Rangel: Straus has at least one challenger for House Speaker

This week, Capitol reporters received an electronic letter addressed to members of the Canton Tea Party Patriots and possibly to other conservative activists across the state.

“Texans in general and especially conservative Texans deserve a real conservative as Speaker of the House,” wrote Bob Hall, chairman of the East Texas group.

“From a good study of their track-records, it is absolutely clear that David Simpson would be a far better conservative Speaker than Joe Straus,” Hall wrote in reference to the Longview Republican. Simpson is challenging Straus for the leadership of the 150-member Texas House of Representatives.

Without directly attacking Straus, Simpson — a Lubbock native — also explained why he is running.

“The culture of ‘go along to get along’ politics, where members face intimidation and retribution should they disagree with a leadership decision, stifles representative government,” Simpson wrote in a Dec. 10 letter to House members.

Sound familiar?

As it happened two years ago, conservative activists want Straus replaced because they do not consider the San Antonio Republican conservative enough.

But unlike two years ago, when backers of GOP challengers Warren Chisum of Pampa or Ken Paxton of McKinney succeeded only in keeping a non-speaker’s race in the news, this is not even the case now. Except for an occasional story or column, there is little talk of a speaker’s race.

And no wonder.

Except for Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola — who also challenged Straus but withdrew his candidacy on Monday when Simpson announced his run — no other House member is supporting Simpson, at least publicly. And with three weeks left before the Legislature is back in session, it is doubtful anyone else will.

In private conversations with about two dozen representatives since Hughes announced his candidacy on May 29, no one I talked to thinks there’s a speaker’s race.

Moreover, of the 15 representatives who voted against Straus, three were defeated in the primaries — including Jim Landtroop, R-Plainview — and two others, including Paxton, were elected to other posts. And of the remaining 10, including Simpson (Hughes didn’t vote), one publicly supports Straus now and two others told me they will likely vote for him.

Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, also voted against Straus but he made it clear before the primaries though he is in good terms with the House leader, he would not talk about a speaker’s race.

And then there are the 55 House Democrats.

Although Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio has advised fellow Democrats to withhold their support for Straus, some say though they remain unhappy with him because of the way he handled redistricting, voter ID and other legislation they fiercely opposed, so far there is no Republican alternative.

Translation: They will vote for Straus.

The same goes for some of the 40 freshmen. Some I have talked to hinted they will also support Straus.

As one, who is not from West Texas, put it: “I don’t want to make Landtroop’s mistake.”

In the opinion of the incoming freshman, shared by other House members, Landtroop paid dearly for opposing Straus’ re-election — mainly in the redistricting process. He was placed in a district that included only his home county of Hale, making it tough for him to get re-elected.

I asked Landtroop several times, especially when Ken King of Canadian defeated him in the July 31 Republican primary runoff, if he had any regrets about opposing Straus. He said no.

Conservative activists are expected to launch another major anti-Straus campaign the week before the session begins on Jan. 8 — just like they did two years ago. There is also the possibility of yet another Straus challenger.

But the conventional wisdom is the speaker has another two-year term locked up and he sounds confident, too.

“A healthy majority” of the House members support his re-election, Straus told reporters. Instead of worrying about a speaker’s race he’s focusing on the upcoming session.

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If a Representative is such an unethical coward that they're more worried about ending up like Landtroop than doing what their constituents want them to do, they don't deserve the office they hold. Straus is the most liberal Republican I have ever seen. He needs to go! Perry and Frullo told their supporters to hold them accountable once they were elected--to make sure they were doing the work of those they represent. If either votes to back the liberal Straus for Speaker, they would be doing much more than just ignoring the wishes of their constituents, they would be slapping us all across the face.